Twice a divot on the spot caused the ball to roll away and twice, in the midst of unbearable tension, he replaced it.Then he scuffed his shot and, as he later recalled: “The ball seemed to take an hour to reach the net.” It got there, though, and Allen was the hero. However, even though he topped the First Division goal chart in 1954/55, the England selectors remained unmoved. Allen himself was philosophical, continuing to supply Albion with goals ­ 231 of them in 457 senior outings ­ before joining Crystal Palace, aged 32, in May 1961.Still he offered a potent threat, employing his vast experience to telling effect and helping the Selhurst Park club rise to Division Two in 1963/64. Allen retired from playing, as a 36-year-old, in 1965 and in the following January he entered management with Wolverhampton Wanderers, then struggling in the Second Division.The rookie boss proved an able coach and an astute judge of players, buying the extrovert centre-forward Derek Dougan and wing-half Mike Bailey in the course of leading his new charges to promotion to the top flight in 1967.

Life among the ?te proved difficult, though, and Allen was sacked in November 1968. Undeterred, he took his belief in free-flowing, flexible football to Spain, learning the language and leading Athletic Bilbao to glory in the Spanish Cup. After narrowly missing a League title ­ Bilbao were pipped by Atletico Madrid on goal average ­ he guided the fortunes of Sporting Lisbon, Walsall and, briefly, his beloved West Bromwich, before accepting a lucrative assignment to run the Saudi Arabia national side.Allen did well enough with the Saudis, then sojourned briefly in Greece with Panathinaikos before returning to the Hawthorns and leading the Baggies to the semi- finals of both major domestic cups in 1981/82. There followed a stint as general manager and he remained a part-time coach with the club until 1996, even playing in one final game ­ a testimonial at Cheltenham ­ as a 66-year-old in 1995.Allen, whose son Russell started with Albion before serving Tranmere Rovers and Mansfield Town in the 1970s, was one of the most influential figures in Hawthorns history. What a shame that he was offered so few opportunities to shine on a wider stage.Ivan Ponting.

Tommy Eyre, keyboard player and songwriter: born Sheffield 5 June 1949; married 1991 Scarlet Rivera; died Los Angeles 22 May 2001. Tommy Eyre, keyboard player and songwriter: born Sheffield 5 June 1949; married 1991 Scarlet Rivera; died Los Angeles 22 May 2001.
Over the course of three decades, the keyboard player Tommy Eyre featured on more than a hundred recordings by British and American artists.He was only 19 when his neo- classical, over-the-top arrangement of the Beatles’ song “With a Little Help From My Friends” propelled Joe Cocker to the top of the UK charts in 1968 “Everybody loved that pretend Bach thing,” Eyre said. Ten years later, he contributed organ, piano and synthesiser parts, as well as brass arrangements, to City to City, the album which established the Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty around the world. In the Eighties, Eyre played keyboards on Fantastic and Make It Big, the two multi-million-selling albums by Wham! He also toured with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, accompanying the duo on their well-publicised trip to China in 1985.Born in Sheffield in 1949, Eyre spent a happy childhood first sneaking into pubs and working men’s clubs to listen to his father’s piano-playing and then banging away at the keyboard while sitting on his lap. He left school at 16 to tour Europe with his first group, Babylon. By 1968, Eyre had joined the Grease Band, assembled by the bassist Chris Stainton to back the Sheffield-born singer Joe Cocker in concert and on his d?t album, With a Little Help From My Friends. Although Eyre only stayed for a year, he contributed distinctive organ parts and solos to covers of “Just Like a Woman”, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and, of course, the title track.By the time Joe Cocker hit Woodstock in 1969, Eyre had become a member of Retaliation and then Blue Whale, two progressive rock groups assembled by the drummer Aynsley Dunbar.